The Annual Fenton Family Picnic
by Shadow Kat-Lyn
Summary: Maddie Fenton discovered her son's secret in a very unexpected way. Danny's determined to do better for his father. Jack just wants to spend one normal day with his children. Reveal story. Sequel to Third Time's the Charm.


It was a beautiful spring morning in Amity Park. It was time once again for the Annual Fenton Picnic. Jack had been watching the weather reports religiously for the past two weeks, making sure that this Saturday would be perfect. Both Fentons knew that they could get a little too absorbed in their work, so they decided after Jazz was born that while they would always be there for their children, they needed a vacation.

One day of the year devoted completely to their children. No ghosts. No ghost hunting. Their professions took up a big part of their lives before the Portal started working. Now, it had been almost non-stop ghosts. These past several months had been entirely too hectic in Jack's opinion. He missed spending time with his kids, without the constant interference. They were almost grown now, he admitted to himself reluctantly. Jazz would be going off to college soon, and Danny was in high school now. There were only a few more years before both his kids moved out on their own.

So, Jack had decided this would be the best Picnic yet. That Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and Jack made sure he was up extra early, already in the kitchen making lunches by the time Jazz made her way down at 7:30 A.M.

"Morning Jazzy-pants!" Jazz smiled at the nickname warmly as she took in the disaster area that used to be the kitchen.

"Good morning, Dad!" She took her seat at the kitchen table, watching her father work. "You excited for the picnic?"

"You betcha!" He finished up the last of the sandwiches he was making, humming tunelessly under his breath. "A whole day at the Park with you, me, Danny, and your mom and no ghosts." Jazz smiled at that. It was unusual to see her dad so excited about something that wasn't ghosts.

"There might be one." She muttered under her breath.

"Didja say something, Jazz?"

"Ah, no! Nothing, Dad!" Jazz quickly stammered. Jack looked at her with a confused expression for a minute before he shrugged a little and started packing the coolers. Jazz could faintly hear her brother's alarm going off now, so she got up and started a pot of coffee. Her mom would be getting out of the shower soon, and she knew both the other Fenton's would appreciate a fresh cup or two of liquid caffeine.

Jazz couldn't help but smile as she set the pot to brew. She took after her father so much more than people realized. They had always been closer to each other, ever since she was little. It wasn't like she didn't get along with her mother, they just didn't share as close a connection. But, on the flipside of that, Danny and Jack had never really been close. Mom had always been the one Danny ran to first.

"Morning Dann-o!" Jack's loud greeting pulled Jazz out of her musings in time to see her brother zombie shuffle over to the table, where he promptly dropped his head on it as he collapsed into the chair.

"Morning," a muffled reply came from the table. Jazz sniggered as she headed over to the cupboard and pulled out two coffee cups. It was probably for the best her clumsy brother didn't try to fix his own cup. Especially not this morning. Danny was finally coming clean to both their parents. Mom finding out the way she did hadn't been ideal, but she knew her brother's secret now. Danny was going to tell their father today, and then they were all going to sit down together and he was going to tell them everything, something even Jazz didn't know the whole truth about. Sure, Tucker and Sam had filled her in on what generally had happened, but it would be extremely different coming directly from her brother.

"Jazz, could you get the door for me?" Jack interrupted, both arms full of coolers.

"Sure, Dad." Jazz opened the kitchen door for her father before she sat down next to her brother at the table. "Nervous about today?" She asked quietly as she placed the steaming cup of coffee on the table before him.

"Only a little." He replied after finally lifting his head off the table. Jazz gave him an encouraging smile.

"You'll be fine, little brother."

"I sure hope so."

"Who wants waffles?" Jack burst back into the kitchen, causing both siblings to jump a little. Jazz shot a look at her brother.

"Chocolate chip!" She answered excitedly. "I'll help!" She stood quickly, and then they were off making waffles. Minutes passed by.

"Morning Mads!"

"Good morning, Mom!" The two chipper Fentons greeted their last member, barely a pause from their cooking. A quick kiss from Jack and Maddie was on her way to the coffee maker, where Jazz already laid out her cup and creamer. Steaming cup now in hand, Maddie joined her son at the table, who was considerably more awake now that over half his cup was gone.

"Late night?" She asked quietly, watching Jack and Jazz dance in perfect synchronicity.

"You could say that." Danny scoffed. "Two squirrel ghosts, a group of ecto-squids, and the Box Ghost. Twice." Maddie nodded contemplatively.

"The night light still helping?" He chuckled softly under his breath.

"Never thought I'd need a nightlight after I was 10. Yeah, it helps. A whole lot. Thanks, Mom." He muttered the last bit sheepishly. Maddie smiled back, and had the decency to change the subject before her teenager died of embarrassment.

"So, how did Phantom manage a day off anyway?" She asked over the rim of her mug.

"You know that little key-chain you rigged to track me?" He answered back a bit slyly. He wasn't supposed to know about that. Slightly bigger than a car key fob, she dubbed it the Phantom D-Tector. It was simple; when Danny was out of range, it would beep (or vibrate) twice to let her know he had left. When he was back in range it would beep once, to let her know he returned home. It was simple, but required a tricky bit of programming to only react to Danny's ecto-signature. "Tucker reverse-engineered it to detect any ghost but me and slapped it on a ghost detector. I delivered it to the Red Huntress and told her I was on vacation." He answered cheekily before grabbing both their cups and heading for a refill.

Soon, the smells of chocolate chips, waffles, fudge, and maple syrup filled the kitchen as all four Fentons sat down to eat. No one talked about ghosts, or their latest invention. Instead, they talked about school, their friends, the last good book they read. New patterns in needlepoint and the latest news from NASA. Normal, everyday things that most people took for granted. After breakfast, Maddie and Danny cleared the table and then everyone piled into the GAV, headed straight to the Park.

The Fentons had a favored area for their picnic, and the kids parked the coolers right under the tree. It was one of the biggest in the park, and was in a more secluded area than the main play area and gazebos. Then, the Fentons went to war. Frisbee competition was a fierce battle between all four, and no one liked to lose.

Hours passed. Lines were drawn then crossed as allies turned their backs on one another and the double-crossers got crossed. Danny and Jack ended up on the losing side as the girls teamed up and demolished them.

"All right, I think that's all the punishment they can take!" Maddie said to Jazz, projecting her voice so the boys, who were halfway down the field, could hear her too. "Let's eat!" Both male Fenton's sighed as they slowly made their way back across the field to their picnic spot.

"That makes our fifth straight loss."

"Sixth if you count the year it flooded." Danny pointed out dejectedly.

"Aw, that doesn't count! Mads purposely put us down field in that bog." Danny laughed at the memory.

"Remember how muddy we got?" Jack laughed.

"Mads wouldn't let us in the car! We had to walk the whole way home!"

"And then she sprayed us off with the garden hose before we could come in the house!" Both boys laughed at the memory together. Jack grew a little sober.

"I carried you most of the way on my back."

"I talked about all the constellations I had been learning at school." An easy silence grew between the two. Danny could see his Mom and sister already setting up the blankets. Now would be about his best chance, Danny decided. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah, Dann-o?"

"Remember the day the Portal started working?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course, Danny! You were lucky you weren't shocked worse than you were!"

"What if... What if I wasn't standing outside the Portal though? What if I was inside the Portal when it turned on?"

"There would have been a huge burst of ectoplasm the moment it activated. It wouldn't be possible for a human to survive." Jack answered easily, but slowed to a stop. "Why, Dann-o? We're not supposed to talk about ghosts today." To be honest, Jack had thought about those possibilities far _far _too often. About how lucky they had been that Danny came out of the accident alright. It could have been much worse. And if Danny had fallen in the Portal? Jack didn't like thinking about it. So many possibilities... So much would have been lost…

"I know we're not... but this isn't about ghosts, Dad. It's about me." Jack turned to face his son, confusion written across his face. Taking a deep breath, Danny smiled at his Dad and raised a hand. "I was closer to the Portal when it turned on. I was inside it." And Danny pulled at the familiar buzz of energy that was his core just enough to turn his hand invisible.

"Wha...?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner, but..." Danny watched his father's reactions closely as he let his hand fall back to visibility. Just because he didn't see any weapons didn't mean Jack didn't have any on him. He closed his fist and let the faint glow of an ectoblast surround his fist. And Danny was waiting on the first sign that this was a mistake. "...It took me a long time to figure out what was going on with me. And by then you guys were out there, hunting ghosts mercilessly." He let the blast dissipate and floated up to eye level with his father. "I can control it now, mostly, but I'm still me. I'm not possessed or overshadowed or anything, I swear." He let gravity kick back in and landed lightly, focused on a nearby tree.

"I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't take the time to listen to me. That you'd blast first and ask questions never. I was afraid, but I kept trying to help. But no matter how hard I tried to prove that I was a good guy you wouldn't listen. So I hid it... but it's getting more and more dangerous. I've made a lot of enemies in the Ghost Zone." This was it. "So I decided to come clean to you, so I could try to make you understand." And he shifted, those bright rings dancing over his body, before his nerves won out. "Not all ghosts are evil. I'm not evil, Dad." Danny looked back to his father finally, who had an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm half-ghost. I'm Phantom."

Tense seconds passed between the two, Danny staring up at his father's face, desperately trying to make him understand. A bird chirped somewhere nearby. A car honked in the distance. And then…

...Danny was enveloped in a very familiar bone-crushing hug.

"Dann-o." If he had been human he probably would have passed out from the lack of oxygen. As it were, he swayed when Jack finally let him go, lightheaded. "How...? Why...?" His father mumbled half-formed thoughts as Danny switched back in a flash. He pointed over to the tree where the girls were waiting patiently.

"Come on, Dad. I've got a lot to explain." Jack nodded numbly and followed after his son. As the boys settled onto the blanket, a quick smile and thumbs up from Jazz boosted Danny's confidence.

"This will help." Maddie passed Jack a plain manila folder. He flipped it open and scanned over the pages quickly. It was all the data Maddie had collected on Danny over the past week, putting together a solid, if incomplete, scientific analysis of what a halfa is. "I only found out last Friday, hun. I thought it might be easier for you with some research to explain it."

"This is incredible!" Jack exclaimed, looking from the folder, to Danny, to Maddie, to Danny, and back to the folder. "So when Danny got hurt by a ghost, it was because he was fighting a ghost." Maddie nodded. "It all makes sense now!" Jack flipped the folder shut. "Why you've been breaking curfew, staying over at Tucker's, missing classes, all our missing equipment! Why we could never catch Phantom, er... you?" Danny nodded, looking a bit sheepish.

"Yeah. You can still call me Phantom, too, if that helps." Danny looked down a bit sheepishly before adding quietly, "And, sorry about the thermoses." Jack waved it away.

"Don't worry about it, Dann-o!" And he started rapid-firing questions at his son. Danny, eyes wide in shock at his father's usual exuberance, quickly turned into a mumbling mess.

"Dad!" Jazz cut his off as Jack paused for a breath. Danny shot her a grateful look. "Why don't we let Danny tell us his story, from the beginning." Jazz sent back a meaningful look to her brother.

"We can ask questions later, Jack." Maddie supplied helpfully.

"Alright." Jack looked a little put out, but nodded to Danny nonetheless. He took a deep breath to calm himself and started.

"From the beginning, huh? Well, I guess it started the day you said the Portal didn't work. I didn't really give it much thought, but as I was telling Tucker about it one day, Sam overheard. She was big into ghosts back then, before they became mainstream, and wanted to see it." Danny shrugged a little. "It didn't work, so I figured what's the harm?"

"They weren't supposed to touch anything, only look at the Portal and then leave. But, Tucker convinced me to go inside it for a picture." Danny was staring at the blanket underneath them. It hurt to admit this mistake to his parents, especially considering what happened next. Glancing up, he realized they were waiting patiently, but with overwhelming attention. It was surprising to suddenly have his parents complete attention on him after doing everything in his power to keep it off himself for so long now.

"I did remember some of your lectures, though, and put on my hazmat suit. I stepped inside the portal, and well," he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. "I tripped. I threw out my hand to catch myself, and felt something click when I hit it." Danny chewed his lip for a moment, trying to decide the best way to explain. "There was a flash, and I tried to pull away. I fell back out of the portal, and I was Phantom." It had hurt. Lightning shot through him like fire. It was the worst pain imaginable to him. Worse that he could ever hope to describe. And he absolutely was not going to tell his parents. They didn't need to know. Mom already blamed herself too much as it was. It wasn't lying. They just didn't have to know.

"I changed back after a few seconds and passed out. Tuck said he came and got you guys and you took me to the hospital, right?"

"Right. Tucker said the Portal had kicked on by itself and shocked you." Maddie relayed their part of the story. "We were so worried about you." Jack nodded vigorously alongside his wife.

"It wasn't for days after that I figured out how to change on my own, and I still didn't really understand. I would phase through stuff I was holding, turn invisible at random times, phase one foot through the floor or the stairs..."

"And thus your reputation as the klutziest human ever was born!" Jazz teased him in a gentle way. Danny smiled at her, just a little. Finally, everything was out in the open.

A huge weight felt like it had been lifted off him. No more secrets. No more lies. Danny and his family talked for hours after that. About the different ghosts he'd fought. About discovering his powers. And through it all, his parents asked question after question. But not about the ghosts, or his powers. They were asking questions about him. How did he feel during this? Why did or didn't he do that? The science was shoved to the back burner. They were more interested in him, in **Danny**, than any of the ghost parts.

They ate lunch under the tree on their picnic blanket together. They laughed and talked like they used to. It was nice, and normal, even if the subject matter was anything but. It was a wonderful moment for Jazz. She let Danny talk, let him take the forefront. Let him see that their parents cared just as much about him as any of the ghost parts of him. He was smiling and laughing, comfortably, with their parents for the first time since the accident.

They were just starting to pack up when the peacefulness was shattered with a scream. All four Fentons snapped their attention to the far side of the park where a huge ghost squid was flying low over the treetops. Danny took a step forward, but hesitated a moment. He looked back to his parents, who were smiling at him.

"Go get him, son." Danny smiled back.

"So much for a ghost-free afternoon."

"We're Fentons. That's what we do!" Danny nodded confidently at his dad before turning his attention to the ghost. Throwing both his hands in the air, he pulled at the familiar cold nestled right next to his heart.

"Goin' ghost!" And in a bright flash, Phantom was speeding away, neon green energy already forming around his fist.

"He'll be needing this." Jazz pulled out a Fenton Thermos she had packed away, just in case.

"That's the spirit, Jazzy-pants!" And Jack already had a small ecto-weapon at the ready in his hands. "Let's go hunt some ghosts!" Jack took off ahead of the girls. Jazz shook her head and smiled at her mom, who already had a lipstick laser in her hand at the ready.

"Guess ghosts are always going to be a part of our family, huh?"

"Of course, Jazz. When were they not?" Maddie took off after her husband.

"So much for normal." Jazz sighed and looked down the field just in time to see Danny get sent flying into a tree by a tentacle. "Hey Fish-Face! Nobody messes with my little brother!"

* * *

...And we're done with this one! I have more planned for this series (Danielle comes back to Amity soon!), but I couldn't make them fit together in one cohesive story. They fit more as a series of one-shots and short multi-chapter things. I also forgot to upload this here!

(Also this is the only time Danny shouts out his catchphrase. It felt fitting here.)

Thank you for reading!


End file.
